3D Rendering workstation around 6000 euro (dual-monitor setup included)

[nikospapadopoulos]

Hi.

 

I'm in the process of building a quite powerful (at least according to my previous standards) rendering workstation. I've initially set the budget to around 5000-6000 euro. This may change a bit till my final decision, since there's a larger budget to distribute to various aspects of office equipment (and software licenses), but I think the price range mentioned above is a good starting point.

 

Most of my work will be on 3DS Max along with Vray (hopefully with Vray-RT too, thus the GPU I chose) for interiors/exteriors along with some walkthrough animations etc. I may dive into After Effects in the near future, but I have no experience whatsoever, so I don't have a clue about its hardware needs.

 

As far as the CPU is concerned, I've looked into Xeon CPUs quite a bit, I have a feeling that in my price range it may be better to go with the fastest i7 available (i7-5960X), meaning that I would have to go to something quite more expensive to justify the performance boost of a Xeon setup.

As for the GPU, as I mentioned before, I plan on trying out Vray-RT (being aware of its limitations, I believe I can establish a workflow to suit my needs in many cases and experience a HUGE time boost), and although I've read quite a bit for the GTX 980Ti probably being more of a value-for-money choice, I will probably go with the Titan X for the extra VRam. From what I know, in order to use Vray-RT GPU in the first place, the whole scene must fit into the video memory, so the 12GB would increase the complexity I would be able to add to my scene and still be able to use Vray-RT.

 

I've gone through some setups, here and elsewhere, my initial thought includes the following setup:

along with a Crucial MX220-1TB (328 euro), a WD Caviar Black 3TB (180 euro) and a Noctua NH-D15 cooler (100 euro) sums up to a total of 5700 euro.

 

There are some things I need to go over again, the most important of them being:

- Is there really any chance to change my i7 with a Xeon that would be worth the price difference for the respective performance boost? I've bookmarked to study some test scene benchmarks over at the Chaos Group forum, but the test scene there is quite small, so I'm wondering if there is more significant gain in larger scenes.

- Are 32GB of RAM enough? Or should I look for 64GB to make my system more future-proof?

- Is there any other really worthy option to replace my monitor setup? I have a very good experience with my current monitor, which is a Dell Ultrasharp 2410, but I really don't have anything else to compare to.

- The second SSD (the Crucial MX220) may be sacrificed to save money for another component, or adding another conventional Caviar Black HDD, either for a RAID 1 setup, or simply add storage. I currently work with a 128GB SSD which fits around 70% of my storage needs for OS and main applications, I imagine 512GB of the m.2 drive are more than enough.

- I haven't got any prior experience with overclocking, but if I could boost the 5960X without risking much, I could go for it, I don't know if this would mean I should go for a different CPU cooler.

 

I would be more than happy to hear any comments on my setup and thoughts or even whole different proposals.

 

I have to say that I live in Greece, so for price comparison anyone willing to help could give it a go here:

https://www.skroutz.gr/

, which is a price comparison site for greek online stores but it's easy to navigate through the main search field,

or here:

http://www.visionstudio.gr/index.asp

which is the specific store I chose for my setup, since it's right here in my hometown. I know it probably is a bit difficult to navigate through the hardware component list to the left (I know most of you will think "it's all Greek to me" which would be true in this case!!), I can help if needed.

 

Thank you all in advance

[joelmcwilliam]

Cpu: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/345

 

up to you how much you want to pay

 

how about going second hand?

 

 

Psu: superflower makes nice psu's

 

Case: fractal make nice cases. For gpu rendering I would look for a case that has room to fit a liquid cooler for your gpu.

 

SSD: any ssd is good, i find no need to go for the pro stuff.

 

Ram: try to buy cheaper ram. No need to pay premium. 64gb Kingston/crucial.

 

Mobo: expensive mobo won't let yout software run faster than the cheaper ones.

 

Screen: I prefer one really big uhd/4k, but you might prefer different

 

Hope i could be of any help

[vedutadesign1]

There are a few things I have to go over once more, the most vital of them being:

 

- Is there truly any opportunity to change my i7 with a Xeon that would be justified regardless of the value distinction for the individual execution help? I've bookmarked to concentrate some test scene benchmarks over at the Chaos Group discussion, site plan renderingyet the test scene there is entirely little, so I'm thinking about whether there is more critical increase in bigger scenes.

 

- Are 32GB of RAM enough? Alternately would it be a good idea for me to search for 64GB to make my framework more future-confirmation?

 

- Is there some other truly commendable alternative to supplant my screen setup? I have a decent involvement with my present screen, which is a Dell Ultrasharp 2410, yet I truly don't have whatever else to contrast with.

 

- The second SSD (the Crucial MX220) might be relinquished to spare cash for another part, or including another routine Caviar Black HDD, either for a RAID 1 setup, or basically include capacity. I as of now work with a 128GB SSD which fits around 70% of my stockpiling requirements for OS and primary applications, I envision 512GB of the m.2 drive are all that anyone could need.

 

- I haven't got any related knowledge with overclocking, yet in the event that I could support the 5960X without gambling much, I could take the plunge, I don't know whether this would mean I ought to go for an alternate CPU cooler.

[joelmcwilliam]

Could you post the setup you have in mind again.